Wireless Laptop connections dropping intermittently

[Kethnaab]

I have 4 laptops connected wirelessly to a cable modem router.
All of the Laptops are Vista Premium (SP1). One of the laptops is a Toshiba
P200 with an Intel 4965AGN adapter. The other 3 are Acer Extensa 5420s
running Vista SP1 with a Broadcom 802.11g adapter. The router is a LinkSys
SRX200.

The problem is that the wireless connections will drop from the internet at
random intervals for random times, for no apparent reason. 2 of the Acers
are in the same room as the Toshiba, and just because 1 is not able to
connect doesn't mean they all are disconnected. Sometimes 1 will lose
connection to the internet, sometimes they all will, sometimes all of them
will be down while the Acer on the other side of the house is fine.

The network icon shows that the connection exists, just that it can't
connect to the internet. Rebooting and/or power cycling the router doesn't
help. ipconfig /release and /renew doesn't work. Rebooting the computer
doesn't work. Simple "diagnose/repair" doesn't work. Hardwiring into the
router solves the problem entirely, and the lone XP computer I have is solid
as a rock with no network connectivity issues. Oftentimes, the computers
will just "magically connect", usually after I get annoyed with them.
I have a 5.8 GHz wireless phone, but phone calls have no bearing on my
internet connection (yes, I've tested it). Signal strength is irrelevant, as
the computer can have all bars (a few feet away from the router), 3 or 4 bars
when it's on the other side of the house, or 1 bar across my yard (yes, I've
tried it), and regardless of the bars, it may (or may not!) bug out on the
internet while maintaining signal strength and showing that connection is
maintained.

What I've done
1) Updated all firmware for adapters and router (as well as the associated
drivers after fully uninstalling them)
2) Set MTU to 1492, set router channel to 1, 6, 9, 11, and auto
3) Ensured all laptops are set up to use maximum performance regardless if
it's running off the battery or plugged in
4) Adjusted MAC cloning, set router network mode to G-only as well as trying
mixed mode
5) Disabled all security settings on all computers (i.e. turned off all
firewalls, AV, antispy in software and in hardware
6) In the middle of the boonies, so no other networks to interfere and no
users around that might catch my router's wireless output
7) Repaired and reset winsock as well as the IP stack

After searching the internet, there are tons of people with the same problem
and we all share a few things in common

1) Our Vista systems have issues, our XP systems don't
2) We all will drop internet despite being connected to the network
3) We have NO problems after hardwiring into the router
4) We all can connect initially, and then have our internet connection drop
without warning and then re-connect without warning

I'd be very interested in hearing if MS has figured out what the problem is.

 

[Barb Bowman]

do you have he same problem with WPA2? WPA-AES? WPA-TKIP?

6) In the middle of the boonies, so no other networks to interfere and no
users around that might catch my router's wireless output

--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
You state that the Internet drops but you are connected.
When this happen, as a first step, try to connect to the Router's menu by
typing the Router's core IP to the browser.
If you can Not see the Router's menus it means that it is Not an Internet
problem but that the Connection is lost between the computer and the Router.
If so then take all the Laptops to the same room with the Router, disable
temp. the security, and see how the computers behave under such conditions.
BTW. I'm not familiar with the SRX200, some old Routers have problem
providing IP via DHCP to Vista (check Linksys' support).
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

[Kethnaab]

I appreciate your response. Please see inline. This is now the 3rd (EDIT -
4TH, I am cutting/pasting my responses before hitting "POST" now!) time I'm
trying to type my response in, because my connection keeps dropping.

Hi
You state that the Internet drops but you are connected.
When this happen, as a first step, try to connect to the Router's menu by
typing the Router's core IP to the browser.

not an issue. That's how I made most of the changes I mentioned below. I'm
looking at it right now, in fact.

If you can Not see the Router's menus it means that it is Not an Internet
problem but that the Connection is lost between the computer and the Router.
If so then take all the Laptops to the same room with the Router, disable
temp. the security, and see how the computers behave under such conditions.

I have already done so. I disabled all forms of security, Windows-native
and 3rd party. I also disabled all forms of security with the router (i.e.
WEP and WPA and went "unsecure") as well.

BTW. I'm not familiar with the SRX200, some old Routers have problem
providing IP via DHCP to Vista (check Linksys' support).

I guess you'd have to define "old" to me, as I purchased this router within
the last 6 months from BestBuy.

It's basically a "faster" version of the LinkSys WRT54G routers. It's
technical designation is WRT54GX2

I have a WRT54G (without the SRX200 speed upgrade) and the same thing
happens with intermittent connection issues. It actually does enhance the
distance and speed of my XP laptop wireless connection

Anyway, this is driving me crazy. Let's see if 4th time posting is a charm.
Just pinged the router from a cmd prompt, should be good, lesse!

 

[Kethnaab]

one thing that has occured to me is that it hasn't happened the entire time
I've had the computers. I haven't installed any programs, but I have Windows
update set to automatically install updates, and the network drops began
happening really badly about a week ago. Before, it was EXTREMELY rare, and
in fact, I was quite pleased as I couldn't figure out what other people were
having such problems with, but now, it's quite obvious, as the systems lose
their internet connection constantly

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
Maybe this can Help,
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19926207-Linksys-SRX200-router-name-and-pw-issues
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

[Kethnaab]

thanks for the response. Unfortunately, I've actually removed everything,
i.e. all forms of security entirely, and still have the same issue.

 

[+Bob+]

thanks for the response. Unfortunately, I've actually removed everything,
i.e. all forms of security entirely, and still have the same issue.

If you haven't already, go into Device Manager and shut off "allow
Power Management to power down this device" (paraphrased). Also go
into Power Options, Advanced, and set the Network card to Maximum
Performance. Reboot.

See if that helps.

 

[RalfG]

Assuming the laptops all have ethernet adapters that are active, you could
try either; setting the metric for both wireless and ethernet adapters such
that the wireless adapters all have a lower metric value, or disable the
ethernet adapters when they aren't being used. Saves Windows networking or
the firewall defaulting to an unknown network if the unconnected ethernet
happens to initialize before the wireless.

Another possible cause for intermittent, momentary disruptions to the
wireless network is if one or another of the computers is forcing a browser
election. I have one XP Home computer wirelessly connected to my LAN that
invariably forces a browser election whenever it connects and sometimes also
after it has been connected for a period of time. When it happens that
usually forces a noticeably disconnect/reconnect on my own computer if it is
connected to the LAN by wireless, but only noticed in the logs when wired
into the LAN.